


How Gideon Got a Kitten

by IncendiaGlacies



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Fluff, Gen, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 15:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: 5 times having a pet doesn’t work out for Gideon, and 1 time it does





	How Gideon Got a Kitten

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ams75](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ams75/gifts).



> Happy birthday my friend!! Hope you like it!

**1\. Plant**

_Crash!_

Rip stared at the broken clay pot, dirt splattered across the tiles, and the poor mangled fern on the floor. He looked up at Gideon.

“Oops.”

“Oops?” Rip repeated dumbly. “Oops? That’s all you have to say for yourself? Oops?”

“It fell.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Gideon, I literally just saw you push it over the edge of the counter. Literally, just tipped the pot over!”

Gideon shrugged unabashedly. “I’ll get a broom and dustpan, shall I? I’m betting you’ll want to clean up?”

“Me-I-clean-you made the mess!” His eyes were practically bugging out and he could just feel a migraine coming on. She shrugged again, clearly not understanding the severity of the situation, so he continued to lecture her. “Now Gideon, you know the rules. You have to look after the plant for-”

“For an undisclosed amount of time until you’ve decided that I am suitably ready for a pet.” Gideon crossed her arms stubbornly before continuing in a robotic cold tone. “It’s been eight months, Rip. We both know you’re never going to let me have a real pet, and I got tired of looking after the stupid plant. You could have just said no.”

Rip stood dumbly as Gideon left the room, and stayed that way for a good five minutes after when it became clear she wouldn’t be returning.

* * *

 

**2\. Goldfish**

Rip stared at Gideon, dressed in all black, netted veil attached to her black sunhat, blowing into a tissue. She looked like a grieving widow.

“And you called Jonas dramatic,” Rip muttered to himself, not wanting to be overheard. But it was clear his son had gotten his dramatic flair from his AI godmother, not Rip, despite what Miranda had said.

“It’s just so heartbreaking!” Gideon sobbed, leaning heavily against Rip. Awkwardly, he patted and rubbed her back. He still wasn’t entirely sure this called for an all-out funeral. She had bought a coffin for crying out loud (even more reason to ban her from online shopping). The things he did for this woman.

“Are you ready to say goodbye?” he asked tersely, looking at the tiny goldfish laying limp in the tiny coffin. Gideon refused to flush it.

“I’m a murderer!” she cried.

“You’re not a murderer.” He hoped he didn’t sound as annoyed as he felt. “Goldfish have very short lifespans, it would have happened eventually.” Not really, but he wanted to make her feel better. Overfeeding it had definitely led to a premature death. Which was why Rip had wanted her to start out with a plant first, to practice.

Gideon hiccupped and wiped her eyes. “They do?”

“Yeah, sure.” Thank goodness the Time Masters had taught him how to lie and keep secrets. Kept him from having too many meaningful relationships, sadly, but it did stop him from hurting Gideon’s feelings even more. He would take the positive.

“This is your fault!”

“What?!”

“You set me up! Goldfish are not real pets!”

“Plenty of people start out with goldfish and keep them alive just fine.” Perhaps a pet rock would be more suitable for Gideon.

“Your fault!” Gideon stomped her foot and turned around and left. Rip stared at her back, completely gobsmacked. Belatedly, he realized he would have to bury the tiny coffin himself. Just great.

* * *

 

**3\. Dragon**

“And make sure to always do what your mother tells you, and don’t let the bigger dragons bully you, you’re just as important as them,” Gideon said, stroking the dragon’s scales. Rip wasn’t entirely sure why, but the creature seemed to have bonded with her, nuzzling at her neck. He refused to give into Gideon’s pouting. Smoke curled out of the dragon’s nostrils as it nodded at Gideon’s words.

“And no hurting humans because it’s not nice, or animals either. I mean, unless they try to kill you, then go ahead,” Gideon continued. “And don’t forget to write to me – well, I suppose you can’t really write, you’re a dragon. Never mind. But fly back every winter to come see me, okay?” The dragon nodded again. “We’ll be here, right Rip?”

“Um, sure.” How was he supposed to say no to that? He’d be burnt to a crisp!

“Oh, I’ll miss you so much, Smokey!” She wrapped her arms around the dragon’s neck and it nuzzled back, blowing smoke into the air in sadness. Gideon wiped a tear and stepped back, watching Smokey launch into the sky. “Goodbye my love! I’ll never forget you!”

Rip walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Cheer up, we’ll just see him next winter.”

“You’re going to make me wait the long way, aren’t you?” she said miserably as they walked back to the ship.

“All good things come to those who wait.”

“Don’t recite my own lectures back to me. Locking you in your room and waiting for my dragon are two separate things.”

Rip sighed. “Gideon-”

“He was my best friend!”

“Ouch.”

“Fine, second best friend,” Gideon amended. “But still, he would have made a lovely pet! I could have ridden him off into the sunset!”

“And he might have set the ship ablaze. No. Pick a safer pet.”

Gideon huffed. “Fine. Be that way.”

“I will.” He kissed her temple and led her inside. A good cup of hot cocoa and her blanket was sure to cheer her up.

* * *

 

**4\. Pony**

“No.”

“But-”

“Absolutely not.”

“I have pamphlets!”

“Gideon, you are not getting a pony and that is final!” He rubbed his temples, set down his tea (which Gideon had graciously made him in an attempt to butter him up), and moved said pamphlets aside.

“Is it because it would remind you of your ex cowboy boyfriend?” she asked bluntly.

“I-that is not-Jonah was not my boyfriend,” he spluttered.

“Is that really what you tell yourself? After naming your only son after him, not to mention those very explicit dreams you had of him-”

“No pony!” Rip said, glaring at her and trying desperately to ignore the heat at the back of his neck and his cheeks. “Or mentioning my dreams.”

“Not even the ones about me in leather?” She pouted at him.

“Not even those.” Especially not those ones. Gideon sighed loudly and leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder and giving him her biggest eyes. He refused to be moved by her silent emotional plea.

“I really, really want a pony.”

“You haven’t thought this through.”

“I have! I would get a nice brown one and name her Chestnut, or maybe a tan one and call her Blondie. And I would brush her mane and get her horseshoes. Oh, maybe it could be a racehorse. And of course you would get to teach me how to ride her.”

“Naming the horse isn’t all there is,” Rip reminded her kindly. She named everything. “Where would she stay, Gideon? You can’t keep a horse on a timeship.”

“Well she could stay in a stable, and we could visit. Or Mr. Jackson and Teeny, or perhaps Doctor Palmer, when we’re not there.”

Rip shook his head. “You know the rules. Your pet-”

“My responsibility,” she finished glumly.

“A pony would need attention if it was kept at a stable, a lot of attention. Could you do that? Give the ship up for a pony?”

“No,” Gideon whispered. “I could never give her up.”

“There you go then.”

She sighed sadly and slumped into his side. “No pony.”

“No pony,” he agreed. Rip took a look at her dejected face and nudged her. “But I could still give you horse riding lessons.”

“Really?” she asked excitedly. Rip nodded once, a small smile on his face. “Oh yay! Thank you!” She pecked his lips happily, already halfway out the room babbling about fabricating some gear for their outing before Rip could even react. By then it was too late.

* * *

 

**5\. Duck**

“I am freezing your credit cards.”

“You can’t do that! I have five pairs of heels coming in, Rip!”

“You have a shopping addiction!” Honestly, why couldn’t she just use the fabricator?

“I do not. I just need heels to look tall. You wouldn’t understand, you’re naturally gigantic.”

“Average height,” Rip muttered, not wanting to see Gideon’s glare at the implication that she was smaller than average. “And it’s not about the heels.”

“Then I really don’t know what the problem is.”

Rip stared at her blankly. “That’s a duck, Gideon. You bought a duck.”

“Yes, I did. Isn’t he beautiful?” She squeezed the duck in her arms, smoothing out his feathers.

“Quack!”

“Oh, I love you too,” Gideon cooed at the duck. Rip stared at them dumbly.

“Gideon, you cannot keep the duck.”

“Why not? You allowed the Legends to keep a rat on my ship for a year. A rat, Rip!”

“Okay, first of all, I was not there for that, and secondly, no you cannot yell at me again for not being there. Thirdly, you can’t keep the duck!”

“Why not?”

“Because-I-you just can’t!” He floundered, realizing he had run out of reasons.

“I am. Come along, Chester.” Gideon placed the duck on the ground, pulling on its leash and it waddled out of the galley after her.

“Quack!” it said, happily.

Rip groaned and pulled out his mobile, scrolling through his contacts for the animal farm. He was not allowing her to keep a bloody duck onboard.

* * *

 

**+1. Kitten**

“Come on, just a few steps further.”

“I know we’re in the parlour, I know this ship like the back of my hand. I don’t understand the point of blindfolding me,” Gideon whined.

“The point is that it’s a surprise. Okay, we’re here. You may remove your blindfold.”

“Finally.” She pulled her blindfold off with a huff. She looked around, not noticing anything out of place except for the ridiculous grin on Rip’s face, until her eyes dropped on a colourful present box. “Is that for me?”

“It is.”

“But it isn’t my birthday. Or Christmas. Or Easter. Or Hanukah. Or Diwali. Or-”

“Yes, Gideon, I know,” Rip said. “But it is a present just for being your wonderful self. And hopefully to cheer you up. Especially since I am partially responsible for your unhappiness.”

“Maybe a little,” Gideon agreed far too quickly for Rip’s liking. He had given her duck away and taunted her mercilessly as Gideon put it. He had taken her to one of the cat cafes, she had clearly bonded with one of the kittens, and suddenly Rip decided it was time to leave. He never let her have anything nice.

Rip stepped aside. “Why don’t you open it? And be gentle.”

Gideon frowned, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. She was about to question his motives when she heard it.

“Meow.”

Gideon’s eyes widened as she stared at the box and then at Rip. He nodded once and she scurried to the box, pulling the lid straight off. The little orange kitten she had fallen in love with looked straight at her with big eyes.

“Meow.” It jumped right into her arms and Gideon cradled it lovingly, scratching its ears and kissing the top of its head as it licked her happily.

“Oh my sweet little kitty! You’re here! How is he here? Rip, what did you do?”

Rip shrugged and stepped towards her slowly. “I think, if anything, this past year has proved that you want a pet, and you’re more than capable of taking care of a pet. Kept me alive all these years.”

“Yes, I suppose it is the same,” she agreed.

Rip ignored the jest. “So, after we left, I called up the owner and made sure we were the lucky ones to adopt him.” He took another step forward and petted the kitty. It licked him in return. “Got him just a little while ago, don’t worry, he wasn’t in the box for long.”

“And I get to keep him?” she asked hopefully.

“He’s all yours. I have the paperwork to prove it. Promise.”

Gideon’s face split into a grin and she stepped closer to him to give him a proper kiss, the poor kitty stuck between them.

“Mrow!”

Gideon broke the kiss with a slight laugh, enjoying how Rip blushed. “Thank you, Captain,” she said softly. “It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome, Gideon.”

He let her pull him down to the ground as they sat with their new kitten and played with it. The kitten turned over, playing with one of the random stressballs Rip had in the parlour, as Gideon rubbed its belly.

“I love you,” Gideon said quietly, one hand over Rip’s and the other still tickling the cat.

“The cat or me?” Rip joked.

“You,” Gideon said easily, not even sparing him a glance. “I love you, Rip Hunter.”

Rip smiled, a slight flush on the back of his neck as he watched her, and squeezed her hand, returning the affection. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments?


End file.
